Upskilling Best Practices

Are you upskilling your employees yet?

Upskilling is definitely a buzzword these days. We’ve all seen it. Organizations are often told to focus on upskilling, and for good reason. But what is upskilling and how can it help your business?

What does upskilling mean?

Upskilling is when an employee learns new skills and enhances existing ones to adapt to changes.

The pandemic has brought many changes to the workforce. Most offices switched to fully virtual, some now adopting a hybrid approach to working from home. With those changes, employees have had to adapt and change with the times to keep up with the evolving expectations of their job. By upskilling, employees have learned new skills such as navigating virtual sales.

Why is upskilling important?

6 in 10 employees surveyed say that the pandemic has accelerated their need for upskilling. More than half of the workers surveyed said their current skill set has become obsolete. The reality is, workers are likely to leave their job if the employers don’t invest in their development. Organizations should use upskilling to avoid a talent mass exodus. Upskilling brings many benefits to both employees and the company in general, including:

• Keeping valuable employees engaged

• Preparing for any future disruptions

• Strengthens teams through collaboration

• Boosts employee retention + satisfaction

• Reduces cost of new hires (did you know that replacing a current salary can cost 2x the salary?)

What skills should be upskilled?

Any skill that benefits the employee and organization can and should be upskilled. Especially now, you should be focusing your employee training in the following areas:

• Communication: stronger teams can collaborate and overcome obstacles more effectively

• Critical / Creative thinking: curiosity makes for high tolerance and problem-solving abilities post-pandemic

• Wellbeing: foster resilience, lower rate of burnout

• Technology: prepared for an even more virtual future